Guidance for the Creation of Quad Charts

Quad Charts are an important communications tool for internal and external NASA communications efforts. PIs can upload Quad chart slides when updating their publications using the Publication Citations Update Tool (sign-in required) or you can contact Support for help. After you have entered your publication you will see a link to add a Quad Chart. Our focus is solely on publications funded by NASA. Do NOT report publications that are not in some way a result of your NASA funding.

Specific Guidance:

  1. Use the template associated with your funding program (e.g. CMS, ABoVE, OBB) for your Quad Chart.
  2. Focus on what has been accomplished and learned, not just what the investigators did.
  3. Make sure to communicate the 1 to 3 most significant elements about what you want the audience to know about the research and how the results contributed to society/Earth system science.
  4. Typically, each result should be summarized in 1 slide.
  5. Use the following headings: Background or Science Question; Analysis; Results; Significance; Acknowledgements.
  6. For Acknowledgements, be sure to include the following statement:
    This work was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Grant/Contract/Agreement No. < xxxx > and was part of the NASA program.
  7. Use at least 14 point Arial font. If possible, the main text should be in this blue and figure text in black.
  8. Indicate what NASA resources (e.g., satellites, ground-based networks, datasets, models, etc.) were employed.
  9. Use 1 to 2 figures that most clearly (or simply) represent the results. All figures should have axes labelled, units of measurement, and color bars included.
  10. Make sure the title grabs the reader's attention. The title does not have to be the full paper title. Include the short form citation under the title, along with the DOI.
  11. Avoid highly technical language/jargon that is not understood outside a specific science discipline.
  12. Avoid overloading the slide with text. Feel free to make liberal use of the notes section to capture additional information (e.g., details on how the research was conducted, define acronyms, etc.).